Guard-rail and method of assembly thereof

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to an improved guard-rail, such as a protective guard-rail or a guard-rail forming a fence, characterized in that each bar may be put in place individually by fastening its lower end to a bottom rail and by inserting its upper part into a notch in a top rail, the notch being open on one side of the rail. A hand-rail comprising a flange is then attached to top rail, the hand-rail closing off the notches in the top rail and thus securing the bars and integrating them into the structure.

United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,815,876 Saez June 11, 1974 [54] GUARD-RAIL AND METHOD OF 1,540,788 6/1925 McClure 52/626 ASSEMBLY THEREOF 2,145,172 1/1939 Gustafson... 256/22 2,348,658 5/1944 S1aughter.... 52/627 X Inventor: Jean-Michel Sae'z, Zone n us e let 3,411,752 11/1968 BOS 256/22 Muret, France 3,482,819 12/1969 Leurent 256/21 X 2 [2 Flled Nov 24 1972 Primary Examiner-Denms L. Taylor 21 Appl. No.1 309,464

[57] ABSTRACT o e gn Application Priority Data The invention relates to an improved guard-rail, such Nov. 29, 1971 France 71.42605 as a pro ive g ard-rail or a guard-rail forming a fence, characterized in that each bar may be put in [52] U.S. Cl 256/22, 52/627, 256/59 pl in ividually by fa tening its lower end to a bot- [51] Int. Cl E04h 17/ 16 m ail and by inserting its upper part into a notch in [58] Field of Search 256/21, 22, 24, 59, 65; a p r h n h ng p n 0n ne i e of he rail. 52/627, 663 A hand-rail comprising a flange is then attached to top rail, the hand-rail closing off the notches in the top rail [56] References Cited and thus securing the bars and integrating them into UNITED STATES PATENTS the Structure- 1,376,150 4/1921 Milier 256/21 UX 6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUH 1 1 I974 SHEET 10F 2 FIG.]

HAW T GUARD-RAIL AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLY THEREOF The invention relates to an improved guard-rail, for instance a protective guard-rail, particularly for balconies, or a guard-rail forming a fence; the invention also covers a method for assembling this guard-rail.

Known guard-rails are mainly of two kinds: those completely assembled in the plant and transported in this condition for installation at the building site; and those delivered to the building site in separate elements for assembly in situ.

All of these conventional guard-rails have one disadvantage in common, namely, they are difficult to install. By reason of their design, such guard-rails are installed after all of the elements have been assembled along the entire length of the guard-rail, and this applies whether assembly takes place in the plant, as in the case of guard-rails of the first kind, or at the building site on a horizontal surface close to where it is to be installed, as in the case of guard-rails of the second kind. Now the correct positioning and anchoring of the elements of such pre-assembled guard-rails, along the entire length of the rail, is a delicate job in actual practice and requires a considerable amount of labour, especially when long lengths are involved.

Moreover, guard-rails of the first kind, assembled in the plant, are difficult to handle and result in high transportation costs because of their dimensions.

It is the purpose of this invention to overcome the difficulties mentioned above by providing a guard-rail of the second kind designed to be set up very conveniently by a small crew which may be restricted to two persons. To this end, the guard-rail comprises substantially vertical stiffeners, a substantially horizontal bottom rail secured to the lower portion of the stiffeners, a substantially horizontal top rail secured to the upper portion of the stiffeners, a top hand-rail attached to the top rail and, finally, a series of bars, each of which is attached by one end to the bottom rail and, by the other end, to the top rail; according to the invention, this top rail is provided with a notch for each bar, the notches being open on one side of the rail and the bars being located in the notches. The hand-rail attached to the top rail has a flange which closes off the notches and thus imprisons the bars therein.

A guard-rail of this kind is installed element by element, no prior assembly of the structure being required before securing or anchoring. The installation proceeds as follows:

the stiffeners are first of all anchored substantially vertically in place;

the bottom rail is then secured to the lower part of these stiffeners;

the top rail is attached to the upper ends of the stiffeners;

each bar is set in place individually by securing its lower end to the bottom rail in a conventional manner and by entering its upper end into the corresponding notch in the top rail;

finally, the hand-rail is attached to the top rail in a manner such that the flange thereof closes off the notches in the top rail and thus secures the bars, which are therefore integrated into the structure.

It will be seen that, regardless of the length of the guard-rail, positioning the elements thereof individually, one after the other, is a simple operation requiring a very small crew in comparison with the crew required to position and secure the elements along the entire length of a pre-assembled guard-rail.

Other characteristics, purposes, and advantages of the invention appear in the following description and in the drawings attached hereto, the drawings and description being given by way of example and being nonrestrictive; in the drawings, which constitute an integral part of the description:

FIG. 1 is a partial view, in perspective, of a guard-rail according to the invention, in the process of being assembled;

FIG. 2 shows a vertical section through the guard-rail in a plane located between two bars;

FIG. 3 is a section similar to that in FIG. 2 through another example of embodiment of the guard-rail; and

FIG. 4 is a detail, in part section, of the top rail at one of the notches in which the bars of the guard-rail are received.

The guard-rail, illustrated by way of example in FIGS. I and 2, comprises stiffeners l which are the first elements placed in position; these stiffeners may be solid, tubular, or tubular with a reinforcing steel core; they may be placed in position by securing them directly into a paving block, or by securing them to such block by means of plates previously fixed into the block; they may equally well be secured by any other similar arrangement, such as by means of pins.

The guard-rail also comprises a bottom rail 2 placed in position after the stiffeners have been anchored. In the example illustrated, this bottom rail consists of a C- shaped section having flanges 3 and 4 therebeneath; at each stiffener, the rail has an aperture which allows it to be placed in position by entering the stiffener into the aperture and allowing the bottom rail to slide down until it comes to rest on pins 5 secured to the stiffeners in order to support the rail. The top surface of the bottom rail is also provided with openings 6 shaped to the profile of bars 7.

As soon as the bottom rail has been secured to the stiffeners, a top rail 8 is attached to the upper ends thereof by any suitable means, more particularly by bolts 9 screwed into tapped holes in the upper ends of the stiffeners. Top rail 8 has notches 10 which are open on one side and are arranged to correspond with openings 6 in the bottom rail.

Each bar 7 is then individually positioned between the bottom and top rails, the lower end of the bar being first of all introduced into an opening 6 in the bottom rail and the upper end being then entered (in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 1) into the appropriate notch 10 in the top rail.

As may be seen from FIG. 2, the lower end of each bar rests on bends 3 and 4 of the bottom rail, while the upper end rests against a flange 11 with which the top rail is equipped for this purpose. As soon as all of the bars have been placed in position, a hand-rail 12, equipped with a flange 13 closing off the notches, is snapped on to top rail 8 in the conventional manner. Assembling the bars thus requires no separate accessories such as locking screws, nuts, pins, or the like; this eliminates the loss of time occurring during assembly of conventional guard-rails if any parts are missing.

Moreover, each bar may be provided, at the location where it is accommodated in notch 10, with an indentation 14 into which one edge of the relevant notch enters with a tight fit; this arrangement improves the stability of the bar, especially when hand-rail 12 is not yet in position. HO. 4 is a part-section, in a horizontal plane on a level with the recess, of a bar arranged in a notch in the top rail (the latter is not sectioned, in order to make the drawing easier to understand), one edge of which enters the recess 14.

Furthermore, in the example of embodiment according to FIG. 3, the upper end of each bar has a detachable ferrule 15 made of synthetic material which insulates the bar acoustically from the remainder of the structure, thus restricting the propagation of vibrations along the length thereof. In the same way, the lower end of each bar may also have a detachable ferrule 16 performing a function similar to that of detachable ferrule 15.

It is to be understood that the bars may be of any desired shape, in which case openings 6 and notches 10 will be adapted to the shape selected; similarly, the shapes of the sections used for the bottom rail, the top rail, and the hand-rail may be different from those illus trated in the drawings, the invention being applicable to rails and hand-rails of all shapes. It is therefore wished to have it understood that the present invention is not limited in interpretation except by the terms of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A guard-rail comprising: substantially vertical stiffeners', substantially horizontal bottom and top rails attached to said stiffeners; a hand-rail attached to said top rail; and a series of bars, each bar being attached,

at one end thereof, to the bottom rail and, at the other end thereof, to the top rail; said top rail including, at the location of each bar, a notch laterally opened to one side thereof and accommodating the upper part of the corresponding bar whereby said bars may be individually mounted by first inserting the lower end thereof in said bottom rail and by subsequently inserting the upper end thereof in their accommodating lateral notches; said hand-rail having a flange closing off said notches after insertion of the bars in the top rail thereby securing said bars therein.

2. A guard-rail according to claim 1, characterized in that each bar is provided, in the part accommodated in the notch in the top rail, an indentation into which one edge of said notch enters.

3. A guard-rail according to claim 1, characterized in that the upper end of each bar is provided with a detachable ferrule made of synthetic material and accommodated in the top rail.

4. A guard-rail according to claim 1, characterized in that the lower end of each bar is provided with a detachable ferrule made of synthetic material and accommodated in the bottom rail.

5. A guard-rail according to claim 1, characterized in that the profile of the top rail has a flange against which the upper ends of the bars rest.

6. A guard-rail according to claim 1, characterized in that the bottom rail has a flange therebeneath upon which the lower ends of the bars rest.

l= =l =l= 

1. A guard-rail comprising: substantially vertical stiffeners; substantially horizontal bottom and top rails attached to said stiffeners; a hand-rail attached to said top rail; and a series of bars, each bar being attached, at one end thereof, to the bottom rail and, at the other end thereof, to the top rail; said top rail including, at the location of each bar, a notch laterally opened to one side thereof and accommodating the upper part of the corresponding bar whereby said bars may be individually mounted by first inserting the lower end thereof in said bottom rail and by subsequently inserting the upper end thereof in their accommodating lateral notches; said hand-rail having a flange closing off said notches after insertion of the bars in the top rail thereby securing said bars therein.
 2. A guard-rail according to claim 1, characterized in that each bar is provided, in the part accommodated in the notch in the top rail, an indentation into which one edge of said notch enters.
 3. A guard-rail according to claim 1, characterized in that the upper end of each bar is provided with a detachable ferrule made of synthetic material and accommodated in the top rail.
 4. A guard-rail according to claim 1, characterized in that the lower end of each bar is provided with a detachable ferrule made of synthetic material and accommodated in the bottom rail.
 5. A guard-rail according to claim 1, characterized in that the profile of the top rail has a flange against which the upper ends of the bars rest.
 6. A guard-rail according to claim 1, characterized in that the bottom rail has a flange therebeneath upon which the lower ends of the bars rest. 